


Nebula

by agentquakingskye, monicasphoton



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Astro Ambassadors, Fluff and Humor, Light Angst, Mild Hurt/Comfort, One Year Later, Outer Space, Post-Finale, SHIELDxSWORD, they are just loving the journey together
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-17 22:02:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29357682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agentquakingskye/pseuds/agentquakingskye, https://archiveofourown.org/users/monicasphoton/pseuds/monicasphoton
Summary: One year later, S.H.I.E.L.D. and S.W.O.R.D. team up to find friend and foe in deep space.
Relationships: Kora (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) & Daniel Sousa, Kora (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Kora (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)/Original Female Character(s), Skye | Daisy Johnson/Daniel Sousa
Comments: 19
Kudos: 57





	1. Chapter 1

Between the Chitauri invasion, the Asgaurdian allies, the Kree visitors, the battle through time with the Chronicoms, and most recently, being blipped halfway to extinction by a purple being with the energy of the universe at his disposal, it became clear that earth needed to be more active and aware of the extra terrestrial world around them. 

Once S.H.I.E.L.D. was back up and running, in all its former glory, Mack was sure to request funding to start up a space division of the spy organization. So no one was more surprised than S.H.I.E.L.D. when yet another secret government run organization — S.W.O.R.D.— popped up out of the woodworks, with Mack’s exact intentions already set in place. Between the S.H.I.E.L.D. team’s encounters with space and alien beings, and the intel S.W.O.R.D. had from previous alien encounters, Maria Rambeau, director of S.W.O.R.D., offered to make a deal with their fellow secret agents. 

One team, made of a select group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and a group of S.W.O.R.D. agents combined, would go out into deep space, mapping out inhabited planets, negotiating treaties and gathering allies, and finding who among their intergalactic neighbors was friend, and who was foe. Mack was to pick the S.H.I.E.L.D. section of the team, and Maria would select the S.W.O.R.D. end, and considering Mack had a few of his most decorated agents as space-travel veterans, one of his agents, if they took up the offer, would be the team’s leader. 

When Mack approached Daisy to offer her the opportunity to lead the team, she leapt at the chance. She had begun to fear that with the organization republicizing itself to the public, and with her original team spreading out across the world, that she would feel lost in this new version of S.H.I.E.L.D., but this would allow her to keep a small portion of her life as an agent under control. And of course, Mack wanted to put Sousa up as her second in command and Kora as one of their pilots, and how could she refuse that? Exploring space with her boyfriend and her sister? She was thrilled at the opportunity, honored that Mack had selected her to lead the team, and excited to get back out into the field after a long recovery from her death experience. 

But the closer to mission launch they got, the more Daisy’s stomach seemed to twist itself into a permanent knot, and her chest seemed to constrict more and more each day. Kora was beyond excited, and Daniel was as stoic and professional as ever, with the recognizable glint of anticipation flickering behind his eyes, but Daisy couldn’t bring herself to put a voice to her fears, not wanting to ruin the excitement of the other members of her family. 

The week before takeoff, Daisy and Daniel were laying in his bunk, trying to pick out a movie to watch. They slept in separate bunks at the time, deciding to take things slow, their rooms being right next door to one another’s. They spent practically every night together, right up until deciding to go to sleep. Daniel was completely packed for the mission. Daisy still had stacks of clothing on her bed, waiting to be put into her duffel bag, which is why they were in his room tonight and not hers. 

“I have the perfect idea,” Daisy said, suddenly lighting up and grabbing the remote from him. She searched up and hit play on a movie with a boy and a flying bike silhouetted against the moon as it’s cover. “You’ve seen Chronicoms and Inhumans, but be prepared to see aliens that  _ aren’t _ human-passing.” 

“If you say so,” Daniel laughed, putting his arm around Daisy’s shoulder and allowed her to lean into him as the opening scene of the movie appeared. 

Wiping the tears from his eyes as the credits rolled, Daniel looked down at Daisy, who was sharing his glaze with a gleam in her eye. 

“I take it by the way you cried like a baby that you were quite invested?” 

“Hey, cut me some slack. It was a really great movie.” 

“I knew you’d like it,” Daisy smiled, burrowing herself back into his side. 

They sat in the quiet for a bit before Daisy sat up, pulling herself away from his warmth. No matter how tempting it was to stay in their little cocoon, she knew if she didn’t leave now she would stay forever.

“My bed is still covered in clothes that I need to sort through, so I should head over and clean that up before I’m too tired and have to sleep with my laundry as an extra set of blankets,” she joked, kissing him. Daniel held her in the kiss for a long moment, savoring the taste of her lips against his, before pulling away. Daisy looked deep into his eyes, never wanting to leave. 

She pulled herself off of the bed and made her way to the door before she lost all will power and went back in for more, giving him a soft smile as she left and wished him goodnight. Daniel looked at her leave, making sure she was okay, Daisy usually gave him a certain kiss when she was upset about something.

When Daisy closed the door she started fiddling with her thumbs anxiously, debating whether to actually go to her bunk, or go back in and talk to Daniel about the thoughts that kept flashing before her eyes. 

_ Maybe I just need to go punch something _ , she thought to herself, before deciding against it. She didn’t quite trust herself to keep herself controlled tonight, and besides, she really did need to sort through the clothes covering her bed. 

Putting the laundry into separate piles, one to pack for the mission and one to keep stored on base, she made the mistake of allowing her mind to wander. Suddenly a violent chill spread across her body, and she was  _ there _ staring out into the dark void of space through eyes that were frozen open as the stars went dark before her and the pain took over every cell of her body. 

She vaguely recognizes that she’s falling, hitting the ground and laying her head on the cold floor, but all she can feel is the pain of dying and the distant memory of Daniel’s arms around her. She slipped away, wanting desperately to feel his warmth break through the icy grip of death. 

Daniel was lying awake looking at the ceiling, replaying Daisy’s attitude from the night over and over in his mind. She seemed mostly okay for a majority of the evening, laughing at dinner, being excited about the movie, but somewhere between Elliot discovering E.T. in his backyard and the pair traveling into the forest to call the alien’s family, her mood shifted. It was slight and gradual and he almost missed it, but the way she looked at him after their lips broke apart, and the way she slipped out of his bunk so quickly confirmed that protective feeling in his gut. 

Something darker was reaching behind her eyes, he just had to wait for her to let him in. 

He laid there for what seemed like ages, lost in thought of how he might be able to figure out whatever was bothering her. The alarm clock on his bedside table read 2:34 A.M. when it shook slightly, the bed beneath him rumbling. He shot up, already jumping out of bed and heading toward the door into the hallway when he heard a muffled shriek coming from Daisy’s room. 

Typing in her password on the keypad, the door swung open and his eyes were met with her trembling on the floor, her back to him. He rushed to her side and helped her to sit up, brushing hair out of her eyes to see silent tears streaming down her face and her eyes lost, still too focused on whatever had haunted her. 

“Daisy, hey,” he said softly, cupping her cheeks in his hands and looking into her eyes, drawing her gaze to him. “Look at me, breathe, okay?” 

It took a few moments, but all that came out was a strangled cry. He exaggerated his own breaths, in and out, prompting her to follow his lead, but she was too far gone, still trapped inside whatever twisted nightmare had caught up to her. The floor trembled beneath them, but Daisy didn’t seem to notice or care, sitting motionless on the floor and gasping for air, no response to Daniel’s presence. 

Daniel eventually scooped her up in his arms, and Daisy let out a cry. He walked with her out of the room and, as they stepped into the cold hallway she curled up closer to his chest. As soon as Daniel closed the door to his room Daisy let out a small whimper. 

“I’m scared Daniel.”

“Scared of what, sweetheart?” 

“I—” she croaked, unable to get the words out. 

“Take your time, Dais,” Daniel reassured her, Daisy nodded. “Let’s lay down, okay?” 

She nodded in agreement, not trusting her voice to string the words together, as he lowered them gently back onto the mattress, her body still rigid, as if she was physically holding in everything she was feeling. 

“Deep breaths like I’m doing, okay?”

Daniel exaggerated his breaths, allowing her to follow. She tried to inhale with him a few times, but it came out more of a gasp, like she was drowning and the only thing keeping her afloat was his arms around her body. 

“Take it slow,” he prompted again, and this time, Daisy drew in a breath that didn’t end in a sob, shakily blowing the air out of her lungs. It took several minutes before she finally relaxed, her body melting into Daniel’s side, exhausted. 

“That was good, I’m proud of you,” Daniel whispered, planting a lingering kiss at her hairline and giving her a moment to sort her thoughts out. 

“We’re going back to space,” she finally said.

“We are. Is that what’s bothering you?” 

“Last time I was in space I died,” she whispered so softly he hardly heard her. “I couldn’t breathe and my heart literally stopped beating and my quake had broken so many of my bones that I couldn’t move, it was  _ so cold _ and there was this  _ nothingness _ and —”

“Daisy!” Daniel focused her attention back on him as her breath had started to quicken and her body had tensed up again. “Stay with me, okay?” 

She nodded, taking another deep breath to keep in time with him. 

“You’re seeing it, aren’t you?” he asked. “When you close your eyes the stars shine in front you, drowning you. And the ice creeps up your skin, and the breath is pulled from your lungs. And you’re right back up there, floating through space.” 

“I thought I wouldn’t ever see my family again. I thought I’d never see  _ you _ again,” Daisy whispered into his chest. 

He just kissed her on the forehead and held her closer, knowing that no words would fix the turmoil that came from experiences like that. 

A few minutes later, after her breathing had finally evened out, she turned in his arms to look him in the eyes. 

“How did you know?” she asked. “About seeing everything all over again?” 

“PTSD.”

“I’m sorry what?” Daisy said, slightly taken aback. 

“PTSD. I have it too, you know, you don’t have to be embarrassed.”

Daisy didn’t know how to respond. He had never talked about his experiences, she can only imagine the horrors he flashed back to every night.

“It’s worse at night, yeah?” Daisy asked, wondering if his brain worked the way her’s did. 

“When everything is quiet and you’re just alone with your thoughts,” he confirmed, nodding. 

“Maybe—” she paused, unsure if she wants to risk making this move, before deciding to go for it. “Maybe we don’t have to be alone.” 

“You mean it?” Daniel asked, a smile spreading across his face. 

“If you’re comfortable taking that step…” Daisy started, but the look of admiration and love in his eyes was all the confirmation she needed. 

He surged forward, pressing his lips to her’s, and his fingers wiped the last remnants of tears from her cheeks.

They deepened their kiss, moving toward something more, before Daniel pulled away gently. 

“We’ll have plenty of time for that soon, but it’s been a long night.” 

“We could make it longer,” Daisy teased, laughing at the look on his so-called “unfazeable” face. 

“Not tonight,” Daniel insisted, another peck on her lips before she could argue again. “I don’t have any condoms anyway. I’ll ask Mack to add it to the list for the next supply run,” he added, laughing at the horrified look on Daisy’s face.

“Absolutely not, you are NOT asking my older brother to buy us condoms.”

“Watch me,” he whispered in her ear, laughing even harder when she smacked him lightly on the arm. 

“No way,” Daisy repeated. “I’ll get some myself next time I go out to take care of stuff for the S.W.O.R.D. mission, and if worst comes to worst I’ll ask Elena but we are NOT asking Mack.” 

“If you say so, Quake.” 

“Yes I do, Danny Boy.”

Daisy slipped a hand under his shirt and pressed her ear against his chest, laying more on top of him than beside him, while he slid his under her shirt and held the small of her back. The close contact allowed her to sense the vibrations of every system in his body, and she felt it's comforting pulse lull her to sleep. 


	2. Chapter 2

Daisy woke up wrapped tightly in Daniel’s arms, and realized that for the first time in a long time she had slept free of nightmares. She looked up and saw Daniel gazing down at her, his thumb rubbing idly on her hip. 

“You look really peaceful when you’re asleep,” he commented with a smile. 

“When I sleep next to you, I guess I am at peace.” 

“I think you were more on top of me than next to me,” Daniel teased, holding her closer, “I like it.”

“Same thing tonight then?” Daisy asked, hopefully. 

“How about same thing every night?” 

“I like the sound of that,” she whispered, going in for a kiss. 

They held tighter to one another, enjoying the moment, until they were rudely interrupted by Daniel’s alarm, telling him it was time to get ready for this morning’s debrief. 

Daisy fell from the kiss and dramatically plopped back on him.

“If I quake the alarm clock it can’t bother us anymore,” she groaned. 

“Yeah, but then we’ll have Mack or May coming by to pound on our door and I feel like that would be an even worse interruption.” 

The look of embarrassment on Daisy’s face confirmed his statement, and so they grudgingly pulled themselves out of bed to get ready.

Daisy finally brought herself to leave the room so she could get clothes from her own bunk, only to find Mack standing in the hallway, a look of utter shock on his face. 

“Mack, it’s not what you think. I can explain,” Daisy quickly said, quaking the door closed behind her. 

“No, no, hell no,” Mack murmured, running a hand over his face as if to wipe the thoughts from his brain. “I am actively trying  _ not _ to think right now, please do not explain  _ anything _ .” 

“Oh my god, Mack it wasn’t even—”

“Nope. I don’t want to hear it.”

“Okay, whatever. What were you doing down here anyway?” she asked, moving away from Daniel’s door and toward her own. 

“I was going to give you this,” he said, holding out a file. “Profiles on the S.W.O.R.D. agents who will make up the other portion of your team. Figured you might want to familiarize yourself with them a bit before meeting them at today’s briefing.” 

“Oh. Well, thanks,” she said awkwardly, taking the folder and backing away and into her room. “I’m gonna go… get dressed. I’ll see you later then.” 

Just as she closed the door behind her, Daniel’s door opened up and he started to walk out, coming face to face with Mack’s protective big brother glare. 

“Mack, whatever Daisy told you, I swear, I didn’t do anything,” he said, practically cowering next to the huge man. 

“Whatever you and Daisy do, that’s your business. She’s a big girl. But you’d best remember that little chat we had up in space last year, yeah?” Mack said sternly. 

“Yes sir,” Daniel said, straightening himself back up. “What I told you then still applies now. I would never hurt her.” 

“Good. Because you know that if—”

“You don’t have to worry about that.” 

“Good.” They stood looking awkwardly at each other for a moment, before Daniel backed away, gesturing toward Daisy’s door. 

“I’m gonna go…”

“Oh! Yeah,” Mack started turning away as well. “I’ll see you at the briefing then.” 

“Yes can’t wait,” Daniel said, quickly disappearing into Daisy’s bunk and closing the door behind him.

“Well that was interesting,” Daisy said nonchalantly as she pulled a shirt on over her head. 

“You heard all that??” Daniel gaped at her. 

“The door really isn’t that thick and you both talk pretty loud,” she said with a shrug, trying to keep the teasing smile off her face. 

Daniel could feel his face warming.

“Yeah, well, I don’t think you’ll have to worry about me asking Mack for condoms anytime soon. Or ever.” 

“God, imagine the look on his face when we tell him that I’m pregnant.” 

Both of them froze. It was the first time either of them had ever mentioned having kids. 

“Oh my god, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that, we haven’t even had sex yet, let alone talked about kids, and—” Daisy started panicking, running her hands through her hair before fiddling with her thumbs.

Daniel quickly crossed the room and held her hands still, looking her squarely in the eye. 

“It’s okay, Dais, it’s okay,” he said softly, “You have nothing to apologize for.” 

“It’s just that we never discussed—” 

“We didn’t have to. I’d love to someday have a little you and me running around.”

“Really?” Daisy finally stopped trying to wring her hands together against his grip, but frowned slightly at the laugh that came uninvited from Daniel’s lips. “What’s so funny?” 

“Nothing,” he said, shaking his head, but the smile remained large on his face. “You’re so cute when you get flustered.” 

“ _ What _ ? I am not!” she exclaimed indignantly. 

“Yes, you are. You do this cute little thing where your eyes dart all over the place and you twist your thumbs together.” 

“I do not!” 

“You’re doing it right now!” 

Daisy looked down to see that she was, in fact wrapping and spinning her thumbs around one another.

“Fine! Whatever. I’m sure I could get you flustered enough pretty quickly,” she said, an evil look glinting in her eye. 

“And how would you go about doing that?” he asked, but she just stepped away from him. 

“You’ll have to find out later. Debrief starts in five minutes and if we aren’t in the conference room when it starts Mack will start getting more ideas.” 

“God, wouldn't want to give him any more of those,” Daniel said, groaning. 

They left the bunk and walked hand in hand to the conference room, grudgingly letting go just before entering the room to maintain some air of professionalism. As captain and second in command, they didn’t want anyone worried that they would compromise the mission before it even began. 

Kora, of course, was sitting at the table, looking as though she would rather be doing anything else. Standing at the front of the room, Daisy saw Mack and a woman she recognized as Maria Rambeau from the single conference call they had done together when first discussing the possibility of this mission. Five other agents, all wearing the S.W.O.R.D. logo on their jackets, sat around the table. 

Daisy and Daniel headed towards the last two empty seats as Mack started, saying, “I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other while you’re up in space, but before we start, why don’t you all introduce yourselves and your roles.”

Daisy looked to her right where she saw someone who looked very similar to Maria.

“Hey, i’m Monica,” she said while holding out her hand. 

“Daisy” she smiled.

As they shook hands Daisy could feel her heartbeat vibrating, collected and at ease. 

“I’m in charge of handling the newbies over there,” she said, gesturing toward the three younger S.W.O.R.D. agents at the table. 

“Agent Diaz, ma’am,” one agent said, standing up and reaching across the table to shake Daisy and Daniel’s hands. “It’s an honor to be part of your team, Agent Johnson.”

“Please, just Daisy is fine,” Daisy said warmly. 

“Then I guess you can call me Ava,” the other agent responded. 

Furious whispering coming from the other two recruits caught Daisy’s attention, and Monica put her hand over her face in embarrassment as her agents awkwardly stopped their argument to look at Daisy, suddenly noticing her eyes on them. Daisy was immediately reminded of Fitzsimmons from way back when they met on the Bus. 

“Uhh, hello Agent- uhh, Daisy, ma’am,” the boy said, his face turning red. “Chase Walker, I specialize in sentient and extraterrestrial analysis, with a bonus skill in hand to hand combat.”

“Oh, stop bragging you’re talking to Quake, there’s no way  _ she  _ would be all that impressed by your ‘skill set’,” the girl to his left said dramatically. 

“Well at least I could take you!” he said indignantly. 

“You wish,” she bit back, and the two of them continued talking over each other, much to Daisy’s amusement. 

“Guys! Guys! Can we please be at least a little professional right now?” Monica interrupted, exasperated. 

“Sorry about him,” the girl said, shooting Chase a look. “I’m Brooklyn Ebony, communications specialist and overwatch. I’m pretty solid with a sniper rifle as well, so I’ll be your guy in the chair and your eyes in the sky.” 

Chase stuck his tongue out at her as Daisy felt the vibrations of a stomp under the table, Chase tried to hide his pain but let out a small noise nonetheless.

“Aaron Miller,” the last S.W.O.R.D. agent, said, speaking for the first time all meeting. He stood and shook both Daisy and Daniel’s hands. “I’ll be your lead pilot and navigator, and from what I’ve been told, I’ll also be working on training our second pilot.” 

Daisy looked over at Kora as saw her staring at Ava, and made a mental note to bring that up with her later. Watching her sister reminded her of her promise to Daniel earlier that morning. A small smirk found its way to her lips as an idea surfaced. 

“Yes,” Daniel was saying, “And we’ll be glad to have both of you for the long stretches of—” 

Daisy’s hand slithered up his thigh, reaching dangerously high. His breath hitched. 

“—Of space flight,” he tried to continue as if nothing was wrong, and ignored the look of confusion Aaron shot him. “It will be good to have a— a second person who can take shifts— in the pilot seat.” 

Mack started discussing their first destination, Nex, as Daisy let her hand wander closer and closer to the danger zone and Daniel felt his face grow redder as he struggled to keep his breaths even and controlled. 

Unable to handle it any longer, he reached down and grabbed her hand, stilling her teasing movements and shooting her a warning look out of the corner of his eye. 

Daniel kept her hand trapped in his for the remainder of the meeting, not trusting her to keep her hands to herself. 

As the meeting finally came to a close, and the agents said a farewell until the mission launch the following week. 

Daniel pulled Daisy into a supply closet as soon as they were out of sight from the others, closing the door behind them, flipping the light switch and illuminating the room so they were looking directly at each other. He could see the mischievous glint in her eye. 

“What the actual hell was that back there?” he asked. “So much for professionalism! I mean, weren’t you horribly embarrassed this morning when Mack caught you sneaking out of my room, and then you pulled  _ that _ in the same room as him? In front of our whole new team?” 

“I told you this morning I would get you flustered,” she said with a shrug, holding back a laugh. 

“It’s not funny!” he sighed, but a laugh began to edge its way into the back of his throat. “It’s not!” 

“It is a little bit,” Daisy said, laughing fully now. “You should have heard yourself. You could barely talk.” 

He couldn’t hold his own laughing in any longer, bursting out laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. 

“Fine, it was a little bit funny,” he laughed, leaning forward to silence both of their chuckles with his lips over hers. 

A whole new bout of laughter came bursting out against one another’s lips as Daisy reached down and stroked his upper thigh again, mid kiss. 

He wrapped her up in an immobilizing hug as a shiver ran up his spine at the sensation of her fingertips. 

She settled cozily against his chest. 

“We’re really doing this? Going to space?” she muttered. 

“Looks like we are. You okay with that?”

“As long as you’re with me, I’m okay with anything.” 


End file.
